For the Love of Bugs
by scottishfae
Summary: While returning from a mission, Sakura learns a little bit more about the Aburame clan and her relationship with Shino changes completely.


**Title:** _For the Love of Bugs__  
_**Pairing(s):** Shino x Sakura  
**Warning(s):** Nothing really  
**Genre(s):** Romance/Fluff, slightly angsty  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Word Length:** 3,800  
**Description:** While returning from a mission, Sakura learns a little bit more about the Aburame clan and her relationship with Shino changes completely.

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"Ug, seriously?!"

She wanted to scream in frustration as she picked her way through the swampy terrain. Mosquitoes bit at her exposed skin and slimy mud slipped through her shoes and between her toes. She squelched with every step.

"Sakura," a quiet, low voice called out to her about a meter off.

She looked through the mire for the voice. Coming between two, moss-covered trees, Shino stood easily on the top of the liquefied ground. She narrowed her eyes at him. _Why are the silent types always so damn graceful?_

She sludged over to where he was standing, still under the two trees. "About two miles and a quarter down and three yards to our left."

Sakura peered through the brush and trees trying to locate the area he was talking about. "Yeah, what about it?"

"A safe house. Abandoned but stocked."

The pink-haired girl knitted her brows and squinted. She had perfect 20/20 and couldn't see anything. "How do you know this? Don't tell me you've already gotten down there in back...in this swamp."

He shook his head and lifted a finger. A small, iridescent black and blue insect rested on the limb. It flicked its wings on occasion; the only way she could tell it was even alive. "Yeah, gotcha–your bugs. Fine, let's head down there. I could do for a rest and food," she looked down at her feet. "Not to mention a change of clothes and a shower."

"No shower," he commented. "Well, no inside shower."

Sakura cringed. _Of course, what would you expect in this area_? "Well, let's go. Might as well get as much rest time as possible."

Shino nodded and went forward. She followed behind, trudging through the muck.

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They made it there in a reasonable amount of time–though Sakura was exhausted as ever. They were making the return journey home and the arduous mission was one she would be grateful to get over with. Not to mention happy for the big, fat paycheck she should be receiving on their return. Up until three months ago, she had been saving up to buy her own small flat, away from her parents and where she could happily live as so many twenty-somethings did. Now she was beginning to get her life back in order and could afford some more, non-basic things.

"Here," Shino said, opening the door and allowing her to enter first. She thanked him with a nod and entered.

The cabin held a deep, musky smell that reeked just as much as the mud surrounding it. The floor was uneven from the muck that had been tracked in. She took off her shoes at the entrance and walked the slimy floor over to the fire pit. Wood was sitting under a tarp in the corner and she immediately set out to start a fire. The mission wasn't so dangerous, at this point, that she felt it was too risky to enjoy a little warmth.

Shino seemed to delay entering the cabin. While she couldn't tell from his body movement in general, he seemed to be doing a last minute scout of the area. It wasn't a bad idea. Cabins and other housing could be good cover for a fight, but they could also be a horrible trap. Sakura had been on high alert since they entered the swamp, knowing she would be less affective in this environment, but she hadn't once sensed anyone following them. But then again, they were only two of the four that had gone on the mission. The other two had taken a different route. Hopefully they hadn't fun into trouble either.

Once he entered, Shino took off his shoes and went straight to the make-shift bed in the corner. There was a secondary furnace there, too small to use for anything much other than keeping that corner warm–and possibly for a kettle. He put his stuff down and began rooting around in his pack. Sakura watched him out of the corner of her eye as she stoked the fire. "Are you hungry?" she asked, trying to make some simply conversation. He hummed.

_What the hell does that mean_?!__

Shino pulled out a large, round vile. It was squat and fit in the palm of his hand. He unscrewed it and put it on the small, unlit furnace. Sitting down on the bed, he removed his outer jacket and then his inner one. Underneath both was one of the standard issue net-shirts. Small, dark bumps puckered his skin like bug bites that had gone putrid. Sakura winced.

The fire crackled as the wood shifted to a lower position. Sparks flew up and landed on her. She dusted herself off and went to the only chair in the place to put her stuff off. In the corner, Shino opened the container and began palming some of the waxy substance. There was a bitter quality that filled the air and filtered under the soft fragrance of flowers. She looked at him curiously but his attention was on the salve. With precise and practiced movements, he took his hands and began to massage the salve over the tiny bumps. He hissed slightly but didn't stop.

Her medical instincts kicked in before she could stop herself. "Does it hurt?"

He shook his head and continued as if she hadn't interrupted. Sakura bit her lip. "Are you sure? What is that stuff anyway?"

He remained silent.

"You know, I am a professional trained medic-nin. If you have some sort of ailment, I can help," she threw up her arms. "Hell, I'm your partner–if you have something wrong with you I need to know it so it doesn't affect the mission."

"Nothing's wrong," he said.

"Nothing..._unusuall_,_" _he corrected.

"How is that not unusual?"

Shino finally stopped with the salve and looked up at her. His eyes were still covered with his sunglasses. Beads of sweat collected at his temple and ran down his face. He was nervous. "Because it isn't."

"That's not an answer."

He shrugged and continued. He mouth was quirked in a small smile. She realized he was laughing at her.

Sighing and accepting temporary defeat, Sakura collected some food rations from her pack and went over to the pit fire. As any good ninja, she was an expert at cooking over open flames. She set up some of the food to cook near the flames. The rations weren't very tasty, though definitely nutritious, but when heated they seemed a bit more...edible.

Giving everything one last check over, to make sure nothing would burn, she walked over to stand in front of Shino again. She looked him over with an expert eye, double checking to make sure absolutely nothing was wrong. The bumps and his movements drew her attention; mostly because they didn't seem to be bumps.

Sakura's eyes widened. Around the edge of each black splotch she could see where Shino's skin broke, chapped, and bled. These were the holes the insects used to enter and exit his body. She must have made a noise because Shino looked up at her. Without being able to stop herself, it seemed, she reached out to run her fingers over his left arm. He watched her, letting his working hand still while her attention was on him. "You didn't answer me earlier," she whispered. "Does it hurt?"

There was silence for a while before he answered. "Sometimes," he replied, softy and deeply.

Her brows knit and she knelt in front of him. The holes continued down his body. They weren't a lot of them but were frequent enough that they speckled his skin lightly. She traced them down his body, observing each with the precision of any medic. She stopped when she reached the edge of his pants, but noted that they seemed to continue below. "How many are there? This seems like an awful."

Shino shrugged. Sakura fixed him with a look that plainly told that a shrug was not an appropriate answer. "I stopped counting when I was younger. New ones will open with the insects needs and old ones will heal over."

Green eyes returned to the body in front of her. She had concentrated so much on the obvious marks that she had missed the small, white scar tissue that could be found intermittently. "This seems like a cruel relationship. I mean, I know they help you–but look at the pain it causes. Why hasn't anyone ever looked into this before?"

She looked up at Shino and found him with eyes averted and body rigid. Taking the body language to suggest she had insulted him, she stood and stepped back. She apologized quietly to him and was about to move to check on their meal when a hand caught her wrist. She looked over to Shino who was now staring at her intently–though still through the dark glasses. "Don't apologize," he said, his voice rough with raw emotion. She smiled at him uneasily.

"Oh," he said, noticing that he had encased her wrist in a thin layer of his salve. "Sorry."

He blushed slightly, the first time Sakura had ever seen him show any colour on his face. She laughed it off. "Don't worry about it. I'll wash it off."

There was a water basin at the food of the bed, against the wall. With a quick move of her fingers, she summoned water into the bowl. Grabbing some soap from her pack, she made quick work of the waxy salve.

Once done, she walked over and pulled the rations away from the fire. She checked on them, making sure everything was heated through.

"Most people avoid us," Shino said, interrupting the calm silence that had settled between the two. He was still putting the salve on his skin.

"Huh?"

"You asked why people didn't question the symbiosis before. It's because people avoid us."

"Well, that's just because people are afraid of what they don't understand. But don't let it bother you. You have a large group of friends who know how great you really are."

Shino snorted. "It doesn't bother me so much now, but as a child..."

Sakura understood. She had been one of those who had avoided him—not because she knew about the bugs but because everyone treated him and his family different. It had been the same way with Naruto.

Memories of her own childhood didn't seem so bad now, realizing that the most horrible thing she had to deal with was not having her silly crush on Sasuke-kun reciprocated. "Children are cruel," she whispered. "And because they don't understand, they react."

Getting up from her crouched position, Sakura walked over to her pack once more. She dug out a plate and simple, plain utensils. She grabbed the thick, plastic bottle that kept her water. She placed them near the fire before walking over to Shino's pack. "Do you mind?" she asked, pointing to his pack. He shook his head, giving her the go ahead.

One of the classes in academy was on ways to properly pack your bag when on a mission. At the time it had seemed silly but as she got older, she really appreciated that class. Going straight to the back and bottom of the pack, trying to avoid Shino's clothing and other personal belongings, she grabbed a hold of his plate and utensils and pulled them out. She giggled when she saw the comical and child-like depiction of bugs on the non-breakable plate. She took it to where she had placed hers and began dividing the food between the two plates.

"Does your family do everything insect-themed?"

"Not really," he answered. He had finished with the salve and had moved to the basin to wash his hands off. He hadn't put his shirt back on.

Sakura wondered, idly, what he did about the holes on his back that he couldn't reach–and the ones that seemed to disappear below his pants.

"To help the young of my clan, things are themed to help the acceptance of the symbiosis."

"Oh? That's a pretty smart idea. All little boys seem to like bugs to begin with too. Did you keep these for sentimental reasons then? They're awfully cute. You should keep them safe for when you have kids."

Shino froze for a second and took a steady breath. He then walked over to his pack and reached for his towel. "Missions for my clan are not as plentiful as for you. Most people aren't comfortable being around us and if you can't trust your teammate, then there is a higher, unneeded risk added to the mission. And solo missions requiring my families...abilities are rare."

Anger bubbled up in Sakura and caught in her throat. She looked down at the bug-themed plate. He didn't keep it for sentimental reasons. He simply couldn't afford to replace them. Or conserved money by reusing it. She could understand that. All of the sudden her desire to use her paycheck on a shopping spree seemed wasteful and needless.

"Well," she continued quietly. "You should still keep it safe for you future kids."

Shino sat down in front of her. His glance, still unseen, was heavy. He did not say anything though Sakura could tell he was holding something important in. To keep herself from prying, she began eating the meat-like product on her plate. It tasted bland. Silence crept between the two. Outside evening ebbed and the one-room cabin became much darker.

"I appreciate your kindness, Sakura."

That caught her attention. For the best of her knowledge, this was the first time he had used her name, outside of getting her attention. She looked at him. "Thanks aren't needed. Kindness is something every person should receive..."

"It remains a mystery to me," he interrupted. "How both you and Naruto can remain so naive after so many years of being a ninja."

Green eyes clouded in anger. "Well excuse me for holding onto some of my beliefs."

"No, you misunderstand. It wasn't an insult, just an observation."

Sakura wasn't appeased. She stood up and walked over to the washing basin. She dipped in an extra washcloth into the water and squeezed out the excess liquid. She used the moist cloth to wash down her dishes before repacking everything.

"We should probably go and set some extra traps," she commented, trying to change the subject. It wouldn't do to be mad at him with another day or so of travelling. If they were lucky they could make it home late tomorrow night, if they weren't they would have to camp out again.

"I'll do it," he said. Putting his plate down, he stood up and walked over to the bed. He deftly put on both of his long jackets and walked to the door. He spoke once more before he left.

"If you think about it," he began. "As with many males in my clan, the chances of finding a partner and fathering a child is very slim. Outsiders marrying into the clan are unheard of simply because..._it_ frightens people. Like the Hyuugi clan, matches of marriage are made by the clan elders and there are only 2-3 females in each generation."

Sakura watched him, waiting for him to continue. "H-have they already been chosen? The matches, that is"

He nodded his head. He paused for a second and then continued outside.

_And he wasn't chosen_,she finished in her head. _That's not fair!_ While a little too quiet and with some issues with social interactions (but weren't all the silent types much that way?), Shino was a great guy and deserved to be with someone.

Outraged for her friend, she walked over to the fire pit and took his plate to clean. She was very grateful, the more she learned about the different clans, that she came from her own, small family. Actually, the older she became, the more she realized what she had idolized as a child was often the very things that disgusted her now.

_Perhaps Ino is up for a little matchmaking_. Well, she knew her friend would be up to do it–she always was up for it. It was one of her hobbies. Though, off the top of her head, Sakura couldn't think of anyone who would be a good match Shino. Hinata would have been an option, under normal circumstances, but this wasn't a normal circumstance.

Plus, she was already engaged–though not really. It was something her father had set up, much to the girl's disappointment. Her crush on Naruto had never really gone anywhere. He was oblivious to everything except for his goals, and a good bowl of ramen. _Well, Shino was right about something; Naruto certainly remained naive..._

"Huh?" she spoke aloud.

"What?"

She jumped and turned around. Shino had returned and was removing his shoes. She hadn't noticed and that disturbed her. "Oh, nothing."

"Okay."

He joined her over at the basin and took his stuff from her. He walked the short distance to his bed and began to put them away.

"Am I really naive?" she asked, breaking the silence. "I mean, I really never thought I was, but I certainly agree that Naruto is."

"It isn't a bad thing, in our world, as long as it doesn't affect your missions," he said.

"So I am?" Sakura grumped. "That somehow makes me feel...inadequate."

Shino turned around. "Don't ever think that Sakura, please." Something about the light blush on his cheeks and the sound of her name off his lips made her want to return the blush. Sakura stamped it down with a smile to him.

In retrospect, it was probably the smile that set Shino in motion. It was just one more of the small acts of acceptance she had, unconsciously, shown him over the course of the mission. He walked forward, taking off his sunglasses, and stopped right in front of her. Sakura was immediately mesmerized by his eyes, unhidden for the first time (for her) and totally unique.

There were completely black, no white whatsoever. She could imagine it would be jarring and scary for many people, which was probably why he hid them, but for her–it was beautiful. The light from the fire reflected off the inky pools and made his eyes seem to dance. Her smile became larger and she reached up to touch his face. He caught her hand with his before she could touch his skin.

"I have never shown my whole face to anyone," he explained.

Sakura understood the weight of those words; all that they declared and promised and all of the things he was so scared of. She nodded. "It's a good thing," she whispered. "All of the girls would be over you."

He snorted his laughter. "I don't want all girls, just you."

She nodded her acceptance. He nodded back. He bent down and gently covered his lips with her. Sakura was amazed at how soft they were. Obviously being the one with more experience, the medic-nin tried to coax him into engaging more in the kiss. She nibbled at his lips before running over his bottom lip with her tongue. He pulled back, face almost entirely in flames. Sakura noticed he was shaking. "Shino, are you...?"

"They react to my emotions," he explained. She noted that many of his insects were rapidly climbing out of his sleeves.

"Are you okay? It doesn't hurt you, does it?" She walked over to him and pushed up his sleeves. Some of the insects crawled up her skin before flying off somewhere.

Shino seemed surprised, but she guessed he probably didn't get a lot of people touching him when the insects...well, he probably just didn't get a lot of people touching him.

"Do you want to take off your jackets. That may help them...maybe," Sakura blushed and turned her head to the side. "Then perhaps we could pick up where we stopped."

"Hai," he replied, a smile reaching his own face. "I would like that."

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"Holy shit, Sakura," Naruto yelled. "You look like crap. What happened to you?"

Shino and Sakura were walking, exhaustedly up the steps to the Hokage Tower. A day and a half late, they had just returned to Konoha and the medic-nin was not excited to explain why they were late to her former sensei.

"Ah," Shino replied. "It is probably not the best time, Naruto."

The blond ninja looked over at him with narrowed eyes. It was a challenging gesture, one between men, and Naruto was—unconsciously or not—sizing him up.

"Naruto," Sakura commented. "Leave us alone, we're late and Tsunade-hime is going to be angry as it is."

"Hell yeah she's angry. The other two on your team returned yesterday morning. What took you two long? Did you run into trouble?"

"Naruto," Sakura said again, her voice nearly growling. "I said to leave us alone."

"Ah, Naruto—it's probably best to listen to her. You know how she can get when she's angry," called out Kiba, walking down the steps to stand beside the blond. He sniffed the air gingerly and then his smile widened. He howled in laughter and moved to hit his friend on the back.

Sakura looked at him with narrow, cloudy eyes. Shino tried to shield Kiba. "You should take your own advice," Shino advised his friend and former teammate.

Kiba shrugged. "Come on, Uzumaki—you owe me dinner, and not any of that ramen crap!"

"What?! No way. Ramen is the best!"

"Maybe, but I don't want to eat it and you agreed to treat me to a meal of my choice."

Kiba began walking down the steps again. Naruto jumped down two to follow but stopped at Sakura's side. "Oh, Sakura—don't move you have a bug on you!"

He brought his hand up to kill it but Sakura quickly backed away and covered it with her hand. "You idiot," she growled. "Don't squash it!"

She brought her free hand up to hit him over the head, sending him falling down the stairs. Naruto grumbled, clutching his head. "I thought girls didn't like bugs," he complained to Kiba.

"Not girls of the Aburame clan."

"But…"

Kiba nodded towards Sakura and Shino, who were dragging themselves up the steps. Shino walked closer than necessary to the pink-haired girl, letting their hands touch. Sakura was leaning in towards him.

"Oh."

The two boys looked at each other, challenging the other to anything about the match. Kiba broke the silence.

"You still owe me dinner, let's go."

Naruto whined but followed. They would have more time later to grill the two about their new relationship. At the moment, though, there were two hungry stomachs to appease.

_~fin_


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